Scenes From Highways
by Andromeda Writes
Summary: A year and a half into their long distance relationship and finally, finally, they're moving in together. Modern AU. Cress and Thorne go on a road trip.
1. Chapter 1

Cress had never been to an airport before.

She had to leave early, and ended up driving around the damned place five times before finding the right area, her nerves frying because she was so _lost_. Finding a parking space had been easy, and watching the board light up with his flight number, indicating that it had "Arrived" had set her heart aflutter. He'd told her to wait at least 15 minutes before going inside, because it would take him that long to make it to baggage claim.

The fifteen minutes were almost as agonizing as the 7 hours she'd been waiting for his plane to land. Finally, the time had come, and she was standing in the open area. There were so many people on their phones, people embracing after long periods of separation, children whining about how tired they were.

But even in such a big crowd, she spotted him.

She hadn't seen him in seven months, not since Christmas – stars, had it really been that long? – and he was perhaps more handsome than she recalled. There's a lot about a person that you can't see over Skype.

He perked up, looking for her, his eyes catching hers as she made her way toward him, trying not to run so she wouldn't look so desperate.

"Cress!" She jumped into his arms and he twirled her around. "You're much smaller than I remember."

She tilted her head back as far as it would go so that she could pretend to look down her nose at him, "I'll have _you _know that I grew an entire inch since the last time you saw me!"

He patted her head, "You're really gettin' up there, aren't you?"

She made a face at him. Then, her expression softened. "I've missed you."

Thorne laughed, grabbing his duffel bag off of the conveyor belt. "What do you mean, you've 'missed me'? We talked before my plane took off this morning!" He bent down and kissed the top of her head, "I've missed you, too. But I suppose that won't be much of a problem anymore."

They walked out the sliding doors into the light of New York City, the sun setting behind a pair of tall trees in the far distance.

"Are you sure you want to head back tomorrow?" She asked, pressing the unlock button, on her car remote. "You'll be so tired and jet-lagged. And you know how I hate when you're cranky."

He exhaled a theatrical sigh, his eyes going to the partly-cloudy summer sky, "If you're not ready to move to LA with me, that's fine."

Cress popped the trunk, moving things around so he could but his bag in it. "I am ready. I've been ready for a year. It's just that the drive itself will be 40 hours, on top of stopping for sleep and gas and food. It'll be hard enough without you being jet-lagged."

Thorne shut the trunk and then leaned against it, staring down at her, "It's only three hours! You have such little faith in me, Crescent. Trust me, I'm well-prepared. Besides! It'll be a true test to our love! If we can survive this, I'm sure we can survive anything." He stretched his arms, "Let me drive."

She tossed him the keys, crossing his path to sit in the passenger seat. "If you say so." She buckled her seatbelt as he started the car. "I went to the thrift shop down the street yesterday and I bought a book for identifying wildflowers!"

"Is that what you're most excited about?" He winked as he clicked his seatbelt, "Not about being holed up in a tiny car with me for three days? And then a tiny apartment for stars know how long?"

"As fun as that all sounds," she dragged her fingers through her short hair, "I'm looking forward to the flowers during the day and the stars at night."

Thorne shook his head, "You're too much, Crescent."

"And what will the ever-restless Carswell Thorne be doing when he isn't driving?"

He reached over and pinched her left knee with two fingers, "Annoying the hell out of my girlfriend, which is exactly what I'll be doing when I'm driving!" He turned onto the highway, "Now, I haven't been here in a few months, so I may or may not have forgotten how to find your place."

She refreshed his memory quickly, him nodding at every direction as if he'd been writing it down. "Right, of course."

They sat in silence, their fingers intertwined, as they made the 20 minute drive through the city back to her apartment.

"Hey, Cress?"

She unbuckled her seatbelt as he shut the car off. "Hmm?"

"Your apartment isn't considered a public place, is it?" She gave him an inquisitive look, tilting her head to the side. He sighed, "I've been waiting a really long time to kiss you again, and you don't do kissing in public places."

She relaxed, her smile brightening. "You remembered."

"What kind of boyfriend forgets that sort of thing?" He brushed his fingers through her hair, reveling in its softness, "In that case, let's get inside, yeah?"

Cress rolled her eyes, "Pop the trunk."

* * *

_**WELCOME TO PENNSYLVANIA**_

Cress set her head back against the head rest, fingers gripping the steering wheel as Thorne slept in the passenger seat. He'd been up late packing up her car the rest of the way so they wouldn't have to do it that morning – much to her dismay, and so she elected to take the first driving shift.

It'd been a long, long time since she left New York City, let alone the state itself. And now, she was making a cross-country trip to live with her long distance boyfriend of a year and a half and, frankly, she felt a bit nervous.

But she had no family and few friends outside of work, so it didn't matter. Her roommate had already had a replacement for her, and she probably wouldn't miss Cress all that much.

She'd heard that there were better things out west, anyway. Besides, she loved Thorne, and living a domestic life with him sounded kind of… adorable.

She glanced over at him, and he was sleeping so peacefully on the reclined car seat, his arm covering his eyes. It's a mystery the ways you can sleep in a crammed car. She hungered to reach out and touch him, wanting, at the very least, to hold his hand. But she refrained, letting him sleep. They would have plenty of time together soon, they just had to get through the drive first.

Thorne and Cress were introduced by a mutual friend – a girl named Cinder from China. Thorne had met her during his stint in the military and Cress knew her from working with the American government. Cinder was a mechanic-turned-Special Ops. for the Chinese government, though she wasn't as hard-hearted as one would think. She'd known that Cress and Thorne lived across the country from each other but assumed that, if nothing else, they would make really good friends.

Safe to say she was right.

Cress had – sort of – hated Thorne at first. She thought he was a bit too arrogant, a bit too cocky, but she was eventually able to see past that exterior for something more, for what he truly was.

A year and a half later, she couldn't imagine not loving him. It was almost disgusting, and certainly cliché.

The radio played in the background, all but drowned out by the sounds of the road. Traffic evened out once they'd left the city, making their way through small little towns that littered the freeway and large patches of farmland and trees. Cress had almost forgotten that a quiet world existed, so used to the 24 hour city that was always loud and always full of life. She was sure that LA would be much of the same, but at least it was a change of scenery.

She was barely halfway through with her 4 hour shift when Thorne started to stir.

He cleared his throat, dragging his eyes open and settling his arm on the door. "Whererewe?"

Cress glanced at the clock, "Pennsylvania. About four hours from Ohio."

"So I'll be putting us through to Indiana, then?" He started rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Cress shook her head, adjusting the air conditioner dial, "No, I will be. And I was thinking we should stop for the night once we get through Illinois."

He nodded in agreement, his voice still a little croaky with sleep, "And when's our first stop for food?"

"When we stop to get gas at the end of my shift." She reached over and intertwined her fingers with his, finally finding some sort of grounding in his warmth. "We've still got a little less than two hours to go. Think you can make it?"

He yawned, "I might try to go back to sleep." He held on to her hand, tracing all its knuckles and wrinkles in the skin.

She blushed, still not used to having him there without worrying that he'd be leaving again. His last stay was only a week long and the goodbye was hard. It'd taken her six months to finally get a transfer approval from work, though no fault of her own, but the wait was worth it. "If you're still tired, please do. We wouldn't want you dozing off."

"Yeah, imagine how bad a wreck would be on my face."

"We _definitely_ wouldn't want that, either."

Thorne kissed the back of her hand and then let go of it, settling back down into a sleeping position. "Maybe I'll be able to sleep again if you sing to me."

She smirked, "Sure."

* * *

Cress opened the sunroof as soon as her second driving shift of the day was over. Thorne was driving them to Missouri before they stopped for the night, but the sun was already setting and the first sprinkle of stars appeared in the rural sky.

Cress had almost never seen the stars in New York.

"I love the stars," she mused. She'd always had an affinity for them. When she was a foster child, they'd been her escape.

Thorne snorted, "You think those are great, wait until we get to the desert."

Her face brightened as she reclined the seat, "Can we stop to look at them when we're there?"

He took her hand, "Of course."

There was a comfortable silence. A slight turn of the wheel, a bump in the road.

"Can you imagine all the worlds we don't know?"

"I try not to think about it," he flicked on the turn signal to switch lanes. "It's a bit intimidating to think of how insignificant we are."

She grinned, "Don't much like having your importance invalidated, huh?"

"Not particularly."

She squeezed his hand, "I dunno. I've always thought there was such a beauty in our insignificance. It's like all of our problems are smaller than we think."

Thorne chuckled, "Yeah, I don't know about that. I would prefer if I never had to worry about money or natural disasters or a plague wiping out half the population during my lifetime again."

"A plague? Really?" She quirked an eyebrow. "And I work too high up in the government for us to ever have to worry about money."

"But you can't stop natural disasters," he pointed out.

"That is true."

After a moment of silence, she regarded him, "Do you think it was destiny that brought us together?"

His lips puckered, considering it. "No, I think it was Cinder."

She giggled and waited two beats before speaking again, "Thorne, don't be mad."

He turned the radio down a bit more, though it wasn't loud to begin with. "What?"

She cleared her throat, "I know we just stopped like thirty minutes ago, but I drank a lot of soda at dinner and-"

"I'll stop at the next gas station."

She gave him a toothy smile, "You're the best!"

There wasn't a gas station for another ten miles, and Cress honestly felt like she might just _burst_, all but tumbling out of the car as soon as Thorne put it in park.

He followed after her, but waited outside the women's restroom. When Cress walked out, he jumped from behind a sign and scared her. Cress yelped and swatted her arm at him, a chuckle in her voice, "Thorne, that's not funny!"

"But you're laughing," he gave her his Prince Charming smile.

"You're such a jerk," she joked, lightly punching him in the side. "I'm gonna buy some gum. Do you want anything?"

He shook his head, "No, I'll be waiting in the car." He winked at her as he walked out the door.

She approached the counter and threw the pack onto the counter. "Just this," she told the clerk with a kind smile.

The young clerk, probably no older than 22, looked down at her, "That your brother?"

Cress blushed, "U-uh no, he-he's my boyfriend."

"That'll be $1.09. What's a cute girl like you doin' witha slump like him?" He asked, taking her cash.

She swallowed and said nothing, dropping her gaze from him, suddenly wishing Thorne had stayed inside with her. She could see the headlights of her car shining through the window.

"Well?"

Her eyes widened and she glanced up at him, her hand crawling toward the gum on the counter, "I don't-I don't have to defend myself to you. Keep the change." She grabbed the pack and walked away, struggling to keep her chin up.

Thorne was replying to a text when she got back into the car, buckling her seatbelt quickly.

He frowned at her, "You okay?"

"Can we go? Please?"

Thorne set his phone down, "What's wrong? Did that guy say something?"

"I'm just really tired," she lied.

He pressed his lips together and buckled his seatbelt, deciding not to press the issue.

As they drove away, he rested a hand on her knee, "Are you sure you're okay?"

She put both of her hands atop his, keeping it there, "Yeah." She paused, "Hey."

"Yeah?"

"I'm really excited to live with you." She turned her head to look out the window, a blush crawling its way across her cheeks and nose. "It'll be nice to wake up in the morning and see you and know that it's not another day closer to you leaving again." They were all the words they'd told each other a thousand times, just turned over and repeated, recreating the hope they'd felt when they first realized that it would actually be happening.

He sighed, "Me, too, Crescent. But I think my mom's already trying to plan our wedding."

She had a horrified expression on her face when she turned back to him, "Oh."

His laugh was loud and abrupt, "Don't pay any attention to her. She's just happy that I'm finally bringing someone home. I think she'll like you. Don't worry about my dad, he doesn't like anyone."

He still had his charming smile on, but there was something harder behind it. Clenched teeth, a titanium-plated stare, a frustrated crinkle at the corner of one eye.

She took one hand off of his and moved it to his hair, scratching his scalp in a comforting way, "It'll be fine. I can't wait to meet your mother."

He leaned into her touch, their conversation shifting into a comfortable silence as the miles stretched below them. Tomorrow, they'd make the trip to New Mexico, finishing off the rest of it the day after.

Cress was already dozing off in the passenger seat just thinking about it, the stars no longer able to hold her attention, her skin growing used to the warmth of Thorne's hand, and she only knew it was still there by its weight. Her hand fell from his head from pure exhaustion, hers slumping back against the head rest.

"We'll be at a hotel soon," he promised. "You can sleep, I'll carry you in."

* * *

Day two started off rocky. They were both tired and cranky, having been in awkward poses for too long, the cheap motel bed giving little respite. Once they'd gotten their overnight bag back into the car and checked out, Thorne had fallen asleep again in the seat and Cress turned on the GPS, getting them back on their very long route. It would be another sixteen or so hours of driving, but it was a nice motivation to think that they only had an 11 hour day tomorrow, and then they'd be home free.

"Albuquerque, here we come," she said to no one in particular, pushing the accelerator, feeling the jerk of the car as it shifted into second gear.

They'd settled into a comfortable rhythm after Thorne woke up again. They talked about menial things, things they'd talked about a thousand times, things they would've preferred not talking about, but sometimes you just need to fill the silence. Sometimes, she sang. Sometimes, _he _sang. Pretty poorly, but it was amusing nonetheless. They played I Spy a few times, though Cress was infinitely better at it. Now and then, she would perk up while looking out the window, talking about the California Poppies on the side of the road, or the Yellow Blazing Stars that freckled across an open field.

"My now former roommate texted me," she said, her voice betraying her surprise, as the sun set on the horizon, making it harder for Thorne through the glare. They were almost past Texas, finally. The state was just too big. Cress made her voice louder and an octave lower, adding an annoying twang to it, "'OMG Cress! I miss you so much allllllready! Sobbing emoji. Jessica is soooo awful and never cleans up after herself! Are you sure you and your bf don't wanna turn around and come get me? Laughing emoji.'"

Thorne snorted, "I think I'll pass."

Cress sighed, her voice returning to normal, "She was nice to me, but sometimes I think she was just tolerating me. I liked her, but she was a bit too extroverted."

"Will you reply?" The ever-important question.

She set her phone back into her bag, "No. It's best to leave the past in the past."

Thorne smiled, "Good choice."

* * *

Cress watched as the buildings of downtown LA came into view. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she took in the sights. She brightened the more they got to the city, or maybe she was just going stir crazy by being cooped up in a car for too long. They were fifteen minutes from their destination.

Thorne ended up driving the last 8 hour leg. When they were driving through the desert, he rolled all the windows down and shut off the radio. For a minute, they just felt the warm air rush in. Cress's hair whipped about and she giggled at the sensation, her hand stuck out the window, swimming through the air current. That part of their drive would be in their memories forever. Her laugh, the way he smiled from the driver's seat, the sense of weightlessness.

Even still, she was glad it was almost over. There were plenty more memories to be made together.

When they got to his apartment, it took him about two minutes to dig through his stuff and find his keys – three and a half minutes too long, in Cress's opinion. But his apartment was pretty nice. Two bedrooms, a cute little bathroom, a sizeable kitchen, and a comfy living room area. And, apparently, a balcony.

He led her there first, sliding open the door and feeling the rush of humid, hot air pour in. He sucked in a breath. "Yup, smells like home."

The balcony had mostly plants on it, though Thorne didn't seem like the type to take good care of plants. She turned towards him, "It's beautiful."

"So, is it everything you thought it would be?"

"No," she replied. When she didn't continue, his face fell. She touched his cheek, smiling. "It's better."

* * *

**Author's Note**: I wrote this for the Road Trip theme for tlcshipweeks! I named it after a La Dispute song, which isn't really much like this at all. A lot less fluffy, that's for sure. Anyway! Yeah, uh, it was obviously an AU and I hope it was at least half decent. I liked it a lot when I wrote it, not so much after my sixth time rereading it after I finished it. You know how it goes. The woes of a writer.


	2. Chapter 2

"You never learned how to ride a bike?"

She blushed. "Yeah, well, you know. Foster kid."

Thorne softened. "And not a single one of them taught you how to ride a bike?"

She shook her head.

"Well, unfortunately you're too old for training wheels, so we're just gonna have to do our best."

She grinned. "Might not be too tall for training wheels though, right?"

He ruffled her hair. "That's my line!"

Cress wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder. "It's beautiful, at least." And it was. It was purple with blue accents, a light brown wicker basket sticking out from between the handles. Absolutely adorable and so very Cress. Too bad she couldn't do anything with it. She looked up at him.

"Ten speed," he said.

She didn't know what that meant. "So, Mr. Thorne. Are you gonna teach me how to ride?"

Thorne smirked and smoothed her hair down. "Sure. I was thinking of opening a business where we teach kids how to ride bicycles, anyway. You can be my first pupil!"

She jabbed him lightly in his diaphragm. "Well come on then, teacher! Let's see what you've got."

He handed her a helmet. "Hop on, babe."

* * *

Cress was terrified of bikes, she decided. She might not have struggled to climb onto one made for a child, but he'd gotten her one that was a bit too tall and far too intimidating. The ground looked so far from where she sat perched on the seat.

"Ready, Cress?" He beamed at her like he was excited to watch her fail.

She forced a smile. "Y-yup!"

He grasped the bars next to where her hands were, in a vice-like grip on the rubber handles, already sore. She started to peddle and he ran alongside her, holding the bike steady.

"Ready?" he shouted over the wind

"Ready!" she lied.

"Remember to keep your balance!"

He let go and stumbled to the side. She knew he was watching her ride down the sidewalk of the apartment complex. Cress felt free, like she could've lifted into the sky. She was flying and she was liberated and she-

She was headed towards the ground.

Cress cried out as she tumbled down, feeling nothing but the cement of the sidewalk digging into her hand and knee.

Thorne ran over. "Oh, aces, Cress!" He bent down and pulled her out from under the bicycle. He pushed the helmet up and out of her face and checked her hands and knees for any scratches or cuts.

"I'm fine, Carswell," she grumbled, pushing him away. "I'll try again."

He smiled proudly. "You will?" he asked, astonished.

"Yeah."

She propped herself back up onto the bike. She was going to do it this time! She would ride it, without falling!

Or, perhaps not.

She hadn't made it more than 50 feet before tumbling down again. The sidewalk caught her elbow this time.

She tried not to cry as she sat back up. "My coworkers are going to think I got in a fight."

Thorne grimaced. "We can stop. You're bleeding."

"No," said Cress. "Third time's the charm, right?"

"I don't think it works like that, Cress..."

She glared at him. "One more go."

"We'll try again next weekend, it's not a big deal."

She swiped the blood from the injury on her elbow and climbed onto the bike again. "One more time."

He was giving her the puppy dog eyes this time. He almost always won with that one-but she was adamant this time. "One more time. And then you can treat me like a kid again."

Thorne frowned. "Cmon, Cress..."

"You gonna help me?" Cress wasn't usually mean, ever, but and was determined to do this and he didn't seem to have much faith.

With a sigh, he grasped the bars. "Ready?"

"Let's go."

Cress was doing it this time. She kept her center of gravity steady, her legs moving in a rhythmic motion, her arms unlocked. Her elbow burned every now and then, but she ignored it.

"Go, Cress!" Thorne shouted from behind her. "You're doing great, babe!"

She was doing great, but she turned around to wave at him and the ground waved back pretty hard.

She skidded a few inches, and maybe that was the worst part, counting even the snickers she heard coming from a few balconies. Someone did shout to her, asking if she was all right. Stifling her tears, she waved up in the general direction of the voice and stumbled to her feet.

Thorne pulled her bike off the ground. "We can try again next weekend."

Cress's shoulders slumped. "I suck."

He hopped onto the bike and rode it with such an effortless ease that she kind of hated him for. "Nonsense," he said. "This time next week, we'll be riding the trail instead of walking it! It'll be great."

She was cradling her elbow now, the blood covering the palm of her hand. It would likely require more than a few band aids. "I don't know about all that."

He braked next to her and frowned. "Don't be so hopeless, sweetheart. I'll be more gentle next time around."

Cress tried to be a little more hopeful.

* * *

He dabbed at the cut on her knee with a peroxide-soaked cotton ball. She winced. "Sorry," he murmured. "You were doing pretty good for a minute, you know. I think it'll be more a matter of learning to maintain your balance while turning."

As he reached for a bandaid, she leaned forward and kissed the top of his head. "Sorry for being so mean. I just really wanna get it down."

He glanced up at her, his gaze gentle. "I forgive you." He placed the bandaid over the cut on her knee and then bent his head forward to press his lips against it. "Now for that elbow."

She twisted her body to get a look at it. She had been holding a towel to it and the bleeding was only just starting to slow.

He screwed up his face at it. "The ground really got you there, huh?"

She shrugged, pretending like it didn't hurt just to do that. "Yeah. I shouldn't have put all my weight on it." She flinched when he touched it with the peroxide. "At least it isn't broken. My hand is a bit skinned up from the first fall, but it'll be okay."

He meticulously cleaned her elbow, like missing a spot would surely give her a life-threatening infection. His focused face was pretty cute though, with his eyes narrowed and his bottom lip between his teeth, so Cress didn't mind.

He wrapped the gauze around it, pressed a kiss to the bandage, and then stood up.

"Feel any better?"

She hopped up. "Much better. Thank you, Dr. Thorne." She slid an arm around his waist. "And thanks for the bike."

He scooped her up into his arms and walked out of the bathroom into the bedroom. "That's not the only anniversary gift I got for you."

She gaped at him. "So, I get a bike and some scrapes, but there's more?"

He set her down on the bed and then went to the dresser, pushing a few shirts aside.

He turned back and handed her a box.

She gave it a cursory glance before glaring up at him. Finally, she opened the slender black box and stared down into it. "Plane tickets."

"Where to?" he pressed.

She looked down to assess them and then smiled slowly. "Rome."

"Make you feel better about the bike thing?" He shoved his hands in his pockets.

Cress jumped up and grabbed his arm, tugging him down next to her. She smiled at him. "I love the bike, and I love the impending vacation."

He pulled her in for a kiss. "So, what do you think. Six months of living with me and you're not sick of it yet?"

"Nah. I think I like it more than I used to."

He smirked. "Yeah?"

"It's always something new with you. I like it."

He hummed. Shot her his beautifully charismatic smirk. "Good."

* * *

**Author's Note**: I feel like I've become Hollywood. Can't come up with new ideas, so instead I make sequels! This was actually a prompt that LLC sent me :D. "Person A doesmt know how to ride a bike, Person B teaches them how to." Since I've been dying to write a short sequel to SFH, I went with for this! I hope it isn't terrible :)


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